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The Xia Dynasty Travel Episode V The Puchengdian Site: Two Ancient City Ruins Discovered
Source：dahe.cn
Published：2021-09-18 15:41
The Xia Dynasty Travel Episode V
The Puchengdian Site: Two Ancient City Ruins Discovered
追寻夏的轨迹⑤丨蒲城店遗址：续写“远古双城记”
To explore the culture of the Xia Dynasty (2070 BC-1600 BC) and refresh the current understanding of the two ancient cities and the cultural relics, Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has carried out archaeological investigations in the Shahe River basin. Now, a new round of systematic investigation of the Puchengdian Site is underway.
当前，为了做好夏文化研究工作，更深入地了解两座城以及遗址、认识遗址的文化内涵，河南省文物考古研究院启动了沙河流域考古调查，对蒲城店遗址的进一步系统勘探工作正在进行。
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Around 9 am on June 17, on a large peanut field in Puchengdian village of Pingdingshan city, Central China's Henan province, archaeologists who had been busy for hours were still working with dozens of Luoyang spades - a traditional tube-shaped testing tool widely used by Chinese archaeologists to examine the layers of soil to locate possible underground relics. "Today is a cloudy day, a 'five-star weather' for archaeological activities." An archaeologist smiled and said that at the moment it would be too hot to work as usual. In recent years, archaeology has become a "favorite" in books, films, televisions and even news reports. However, for archaeologists, field archaeology, the most basic work, is really challenging.
6月17日上午9点多，平顶山市区东部卫东区东高皇乡蒲城店村，公路南边的一大片花生地里，已经忙碌了几个小时的勘探工作仍在继续，十几把“洛阳铲”此起彼落、拉网搜索般列队推进……“今天阴天，是考古勘探的‘五星级天气’。”一位考古工作队员笑着说，平时此刻，早已曝晒难耐。近年来，文物考古成为书籍、影视作品甚至新闻报道的热门“主角”，屡屡火爆出圈。不过，对于文物考古工作者来说，最基础的部分——田野考古是不折不扣的“苦活儿”。
The dwelling foundations discovered at the Puchengdian Site. [Photo/Henan Daily App]
The place where we were standing is called the Puchengdian Site, one of the sixth batch of national key cultural relics.
这里，就是全国重点文物保护单位蒲城店遗址。
Discovered in the 1950s, the Puchengdian Site was listed as one of the first batch of provincial key cultural relics by the People's Government of Henan Province in 1963, but its values and secrets remained unrevealed until 2004, more than half a century later.
发现于上世纪50年代的蒲城店遗址，1963年就被列为河南省文物保护单位，但是它深埋的价值和秘密，直到半个多世纪后的2004年才被初步揭开。
"From 2004 to 2005, because of the Lankao-Nanyang Expressway construction, we excavated the Puchengdian Site for protection purpose, with remains of different periods discovered, such as the Longshan Culture (around 2500 BC-2000 BC), the Xinzhai Phase (around 1870 BC-1720 BC), the Erlitou Culture (around 1735 BC-1530 BC), the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-771 BC), the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC-256 BC), the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), etc. Particularly, two ancient cities of the late Longshan Culture and the Xinzhai Phase (or the transition period from the Longshan Culture to the Erlitou Culture) were also discovered. The city sites of the Xinzhai Phase or the early Erlitou Culture were rarely found in China at that time, so the latter should be one of the earliest discoveries of its kind then." Wei Xingtao, leader of The Puchengdian Site in Pingdingshan (a key project of the National Social Science Foundation) and deputy head of Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, introduced the site to us.
“2004年到2005年，因为配合兰(考)南(阳)高速公路平顶山连接线建设工程的文物保护工作，对这个遗址进行了发掘。发现龙山时代、龙山向二里头文化过渡时期、二里头文化、西周、东周、汉代等多时期的丰富文化遗存，最主要的收获是发现了龙山文化晚期和龙山向二里头文化过渡时期的两座城址。尤其是二里头早期或者是所谓过渡期的城址，当时在全国发现还很少，应该是当时最早发现的城址之一。”国家社会科学基金重点项目“平顶山蒲城店”的主持者、河南省文物考古研究院副院长魏兴涛边走边介绍，还不时弯下腰仔细查看探铲取出的土样。
Wei Xingtao (left) observes soil samples. [Photo/Henan Daily App]
Deriving its name from the place of discovery - Longshan town of East China's Shandong province, the Longshan Culture dating back to 4350~3950 years ago generally refers to the cultural remains in middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the late Neolithic Age when both bronzes and stones were used, while the Erlitou Culture, named after the Erlitou Site in Yanshi of Henan province, is generally regarded as a key to probe into the culture of the Xia Dynasty.
龙山文化因发现于山东章丘龙山镇而得名，一般泛指黄河中下游地区新石器时代晚期的文化遗存，为铜石并用时代文化，距今约４３５０～３９５０年；而由河南偃师二里头遗址得名的二里头文化，则被普遍认为是探索夏文化的关键性研究对象。
What did the archaeologists find in the two ancient city ruins mentioned above?
那么，作为最主要的收获，考古工作者在分属上述两个时期的两座“远古之城”中，究竟有何发现？
The city of the Longshan Culture is roughly an east-west rectangle with the eastern, western and southern sections of the city wall still in existence. To its north lies the old course of the Zhanhe River. About 41,000 square meters of the city remained. The city wall is composed of the wall itself and two slopes. Outside the city wall is a wide and deep moat. The remains of rectangular houses with interconnected rooms and oval houses built with the rammed-earth foundations were found. Most of the unearthed relics are gray potteries with rich shapes. It is one of the southernmost city sites of the Longshan Culture in Central and South Henan.
据介绍，龙山时代城址平面形状大致呈东西长方形，现存东、西、南三面城墙，北面是湛河故道，残存面积约4.1万平方米，城墙由主体墙和两面护坡组成，墙外紧接宽而深的城壕。房址则分长方形多间连间房和椭圆形垫土房屋。出土遗物多为陶器，陶质多为夹砂灰陶，器形丰富，有鼎、罐、瓮、盆、豆、碗等。这座城址是豫中南地区龙山城址中最偏南者之一。
The city of the Xinzhai Phase is also roughly an east-west rectangle with an area of about 52,000 square meters. Its location is on the arterial road linking the Central Plains with the Nanyang basin, which is of great strategic significance. However, very few city sites of this period have been found. Another important discovery is the remains of the row houses of the Erlitou Culture. Orderly arranged, the row houses, in large numbers, cover a broad area, which explains why they are important. The remains of more than 20 row houses (each with 1 to 6 rooms) were discovered in an area of more than 170 meters in length and 20 meters in width, reflecting the social transformation from a prehistoric settlement to a dynasty.
而龙山向二里头文化过渡期的城址，平面形状大致呈东西向长方形，面积约5.2万平方米。这一时期城址至今发现不多，这里处在中原到南阳盆地的交通要道上，战略位置十分重要。 二里头文化成排房址的发掘是该遗址又一重要成果，由于面积大、数量多、排列有序，这一时期的房址材料最为重要，在长170多米、宽20米的范围内发现20余处房址，房间1-6间不等，反映了从史前聚落生活到王朝社会生活的转变。
The Puchengdian Site. [Photo/Henan Daily App]
With fruitful archaeological findings, the project The Puchengdian Site in Pingdingshan won the second prize of the Field Archaeology Award (2004-2005) presented by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. However, there were some regrets. Wei said, "To facilitate the construction of the Lankao-Nanyang Expressway, we just identified the city ruins and their basic structure and scope. What are the inner cities like? Do they have gates? We still do not know the answers yet."
由于考古发掘工作质量出色，以及一系列收获汇聚成的重要成果，让“平顶山蒲城店”项目获得了2004-2005年国家文物局田野考古奖二等奖。不过，这次发掘也留下些遗憾。魏兴涛说：“当时因为配合基建，对两座城址仅仅是发现了城圈，对它进行了解剖，基本的结构和范围初步清楚了，但是城内怎么样？城址是不是有城门？这些都没有来得及进一步勘察。”
The opportunity has come. In 2020, a key project (2020-2024) themed the study of the Xia Dynasty jointly applied for by Henan, Shanxi, Anhui and Shaanxi was approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. The project aims to provide scientific evidence for the comprehensive restoration and construction of the establishment background, society and history, civilization achievements, political structure and national system of the Xia Dynasty, and find out the answers to the important academic issues, such as the historical position and role of the Xia Dynasty culture in the civilization process of the Central Plains and the overall process of the integration of diversified ancient Chinese cultures.
弥补遗憾的机会来了。2020年，由豫晋皖陕等省联合申报的“考古中国·夏文化研究”重大项目（2020—2024）获得国家文物局批准立项并启动实施。该重大项目的设立，是为了给全面复原和构建夏王朝的诞生背景、社会历史、文明成就、政治结构、国家体系等提供科学支撑，为解决夏文化在中原地区文明化进程乃至中国古代文化多元一体化总进程中的历史地位和作用等重大学术问题提供准确清晰的答案。
"To better study the culture of the Xia Dynasty, we have carried out archaeological investigations in the Shahe River basin. More work is needed for the Puchengdian Site. Now, the systematic investigation is underway. We hope to gain a deep understanding of the cultural implications of the site with the remains of the two cities and other cultural relics. It is predictable and worth our expectation." Wei told Henan Daily.
“当前，为了做好夏文化研究工作，我们启动了沙河流域考古调查，我们感觉蒲城店遗址需要进一步做工作，就对遗址进行了勘探，系统的勘探工作正在进行，我们希望能够对这两座城以及遗址的其他方面有更深的了解，进一步认识遗址的文化内涵。这应该是有前景、可以预期的。”魏兴涛说。（中文来源/河南日报客户端 记者/黄晖 李悦 翻译/赵汉青 视频/实习生王君艺 审校/陈行洁 白玉杰）
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Editor：Zhao Hanqing